White says this is his last term

SPRINGFIELD – After five terms as Illinois secretary of state, Jesse White will retire from public office when his current term ends, he said Thursday.

The Chicago Democrat, a former Cook County Recorder of Deeds and state legislator, said his decision to not seek re-election in 2018 is final.

“Take it to the bank,” said White, who has previously discussed retirement. “This is it,” he said.

The 81-year-old native of Alton said he’d surely be on the job for the remainder of this term, though.

“Oh, sure, I’ll be there every day, at my duty station and discharging my duties to the best of my abilities,” White told reporters at the Illinois State Fair.

A former Army paratrooper, White also played minor league baseball and spent three decades in the Chicago public school system as a teacher and administrator. In 1959, he founded the acclaimed Jesse White Tumbling Team for children in the Chicago area.